"I don't want to."

"I'm sorry," Fred says, and picks her up.

Zaida has seen cartoons where people slip out of the bad guys' grasp by slipping out of their coats, so she decides to try pulling her dress off. This doesn't actually do anything on the escape front, which she figures is because she gets it stuck on her head and arms, rather than because cartoons are fundamentally untrustworthy. 

It does reveal much heavier bruises and a series of little red welts, streching from her lower back to her upper thighs and disappearing behind her underwear.

Fred picks her up very gently, taking care to avoid touching her bruises, and carries her to the nursery teacher. "Excuse me," he says, "I found this girl in a closet? Perhaps you could help me return her to her parents."

"You are NOT my daddy," says Zaida, because this is what her Mommy told her to say if a strange man ever picked her up and took her anywhere. She is sort of unclear on why this phrase in particular, because Zaida doesn't actually have a daddy, but she's going to say it anyway.

"Commander Waterford isn't trying to kidnap you, sweetheart," says the nursery teacher. "This is Zaida Melton, Cameron and Ellen Melton's youngest."

"Thank you," he says to the nursery teacher, and "that's right, I'm not your daddy, but I'm going to return you to the people who are taking care of you now," he says to Zaida. 

"I don't want to," says Zaida, with a little less conviction than before.

Fred finds Cameron. "Your daughter was playing in a closet."

"Zaida! You're supposed to stay with your mother at all times, what have we told you about that?"

"I am being bad," says Zaida, determinedly.

"I did tell her she could draw on me if I returned her to her parents."

Cameron laughs a little. "That's nice of you, but I think we should get her home before she slips away again." He holds his arms out for Fred to pass Zaida to him.

Zaida shrinks away from the other man who isn't her daddy and clings to Fred.

Fred hands her over and attempts to telepathically transmit the message that he will fix this!

Zaida is not a telepath! She does wave sadly at him as Cameron carries her away, though.

Well, that's heartbreaking. 

When he returns home, Fred calls Child Protective Services. "Hello, I'm reporting a suspected case of child abuse."

"Can you give us your name and the names and address of the child and their caretakers?"

"Fred Waterford. She's Zaida Melton, the daughter of Cameron and Ellen Melton. I'm sorry, I don't know their home address, but they attend Grace River Church."

"All right, thank you," says the person on the other end of the phone, after a pause. "Can you tell us what you witnessed?"

"Zaida is three years old. She had bruises up and down her arms and welts and heavy bruising all along her legs. She told me that she was beaten hard enough to bruise because she wouldn't come to the kitchen, wouldn't go to bed, and didn't call Ellen Mommy."

"I see. Thank you, we'll look into it."

Several days later, CPS calls Fred back to let him know that they've looked into it and have determined that Zaida is perfectly safe and loved with the Meltons. They thank him for his interest.

Uh huh. 

Next time they're at church, Fred keeps an eye out for Zaida and looks for any more suspicious bruises. 

She sits next to Ellen all the time; she doesn't play with the other kids or go to the nursery during the service. 

There aren't more obvious bruises on her arms, but she's sitting funny and she winces when she has to get up or sit down.